Vodafone Idea (Vi) has revealed that it decreased its Capex spend for Q1FY22 to Rs 9.4 billion as against Rs 15.4 billion in Q4 FY21.
Vodafone Idea did not share additional details on the reasons on the reduction in its capital spending for network infrastructure.
Vodafone Idea added ~6,400 4G FDD sites primarily through refarming of 2G / 3G spectrum to expand 4G coverage and capacity. Vodafone Idea’s broadband site count stood at 447,114, lower compared to 452,650 in Q4FY21 due to shutdown of 3G sites.
Vodafone Idea has deployed nearly 63,000 TDD sites in addition to the deployment of ~13,800 Massive MIMO sites and ~12,800 small cells till now. Vodafone Idea expanded LTE 900 presence in 12 circles at select locations, including through dynamic spectrum refarming, to improve customer experience.
Vodafone Idea said its 4G network covers over 1 billion Indians as of June 30, 2021. “These network investment initiatives continue to deliver a significant capacity uplift, enabling us to offer superior customer experience,” Vodafone Idea said.
Subscribers
Vodafone Idea’s mobile subscriber base declined by 12.3 million to 255.4 million in Q1FY22 from 267.8 million in Q4FY21. 4G subscriber base of Vodafone Idea fell to 112.9 million from 113.9 million in Q4FY21.
Vodafone Idea’s mobile subscriber churn was 3.5 percent in Q1FY22 vs 3 percent in Q4FY21. ARPU of Vodafone Idea fell to Rs 104 vs Rs 107 in Q4FY21. The data volumes witnessed growth of 13.2 percent QoQ, driven by higher data demand during the lockdown. Data usage per broadband subscriber surged to 14.6 GB/month vs 12.8 GB/month in Q4FY21.
Vodafone revenue
Vodafone Idea’s revenue for the first quarter fell 4.7 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 91.5 billion due to slowdown in economic activities in the wake of lockdown or restrictions in most of the districts during the severe second wave of COVID-19.
Vodafone Idea reported EBITDA of Rs 37.1 billion with EBITDA margins at 40.5 percent vs 45.9 percent in Q4FY21.
Vodafone Idea’s gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued) as of June 30, 2021 stands at Rs 1,915.9 billion, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1,060.1 billion and AGR liability of Rs 621.8 billion that are due to the Government and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 234 billion.
